Hip-hop enters Smithsonian...

[brownie]

From Reuters:

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION STARTS HIP-HOP COLLECTION

By Scott Malone

The Smithsonian Institution on Tuesday began a search for hip-hop artifacts, for a future exhibit on the urban style best known for rap music, break dancing and baggy clothes.

Rap stars and producers who contributed items to the exhibit, including Ice-T and Russell Simmons, said they were surprised to see the Smithsonian turn its attention to the three-decades-old art form.

"It validates it," said Los Angeles-based rapper Ice-T. "It's a good feeling."

Hip-hop music got its start in the South Bronx section of New York in the 1970s, when largely black and Puerto Rican youths began layering samples of sounds from existing records over driving, bass-heavy rhythm tracks.

The initial contributions to the museum's collection include a pair of turntables used by disc jockey Grand Master Flash, known for the seminal 1982 hit "The Message," and a boom box owned by Fab Five Freddy, the original host of "Yo! MTV Raps," as well as pictures, album-cover artwork and recordings.

Officials with the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History said it could be three to five years before its exhibit on hip-hop was ready.

The museum, based in Washington, receives more than 80 percent of its money from the federal government and aims to represent the breadth of American culture. Its collections range from the early American flag which inspired the national anthem, to costumes and props from popular television shows.

While hip-hop started out with a lighthearted, party-focused image, in the 1990s it developed a harder edge with "gangsta" rap, which focused on violence and gang life.

Several noted rappers have died violent deaths over the past decade, including Jam Master Jay of Run DMC, Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur.

"Hip-hop is not about hooliganism," said Kool Herc, a pioneering early hip-hop disc jockey. "It's not about disrespecting other people. It's about coming to a party and having fun."

But Ice-T, a "gangsta" rap pioneer who was the subject of a heated national debate in 1992 over his song "Cop Killer" with the band Body Count, said rap should not be blamed for inner-city violence.

"The streets aren't mimicking rap; rap is reflecting what's going on out there, unfortunately," he said.

[Noj]

From Reuters:

While hip-hop started out with a lighthearted, party-focused image, in the 1990s it developed a harder edge with "gangsta" rap, which focused on violence and gang life.

I think this is misleading. Rappers who weren't gangsters before the 90s kept rapping the same way into the next decade. Hip hop may have splintered into different styles, but it didn't go gangster in its entirety. It retained the lighthearted, party-focus.

[blake]

NPR covered this briefly this morning:

History Museum to Chronicle Roots of Hip-Hop